Perseid Meteors Don't Cooperate

After a couple of hours of sitting next to a campfire and looking skyward I came away with a sore neck and about 50 sightings of the Perseid Meteor Shower last night.

In the past as a kid I can remember my dad and I sitting out until three in the morning watching for what was supposed to be an impressive display. It never materialized and we might have seen a handful the entire time.

Last night with little effort on our parts we had a great view of a much more impressive show. Now, it didn't produce the predicted 100 meteors per hour that we heard about on the news but we did see approximately 15 to 20 per hour including some very impressive fireballs.

The only downside on this clear and perfect night for viewing was the fact I was unable to capture a single one using my camera. It wasn't for lack of trying on my part but they just didn't fall where my lens was pointing, or if they did, they were too faint to pick up and not the more impressive meteors.

It wasn't a total loss with the camera as I did manage to get a few interesting photos of the night sky and some star trails as you can see in the photo below.


© 2010 Mark Kennedy

Obama Victory Means Disaster

I actually thought the election of Barrack Obama was a good thing at first. It was good for African Americans who witnessed something that they thought might never happen. Plus it's probably a good thing for the United States and their relationship with the rest of the world.

The last eight years Bush in the Oval Office have put a major strain on relations and the overall view of the world towards the U.S. has taken a severe beating. I think and hope Obama will do a lot to reach out to the world and welcome old friends once again. The U.S. was becoming like that relative you only want to see when you have to instead of your favourite Uncle who always made you feel good and safe.

Of course my only real worry when I witnessed history that election night was how long until the Earth faces extinction or disaster. If my years of watching movies and television have taught me anything, it's that when a black man becomes the President of the United States of America, it is soon followed by either a terrorist attack or an asteroid racing toward the planet intent on killing us all.

The President on the TV show 24 had to deal with a nuclear bomb. The President on the movie The Fifth Element had an alien life form ready to destroy the earth and of course the most famous example has to be Morgan Freeman as the President in the movie Deep Impact where two comets threaten to kill all life on the planet when they hit. It's not a great track record.

I certainly don't think anything like this will happen but the signs are starting to appear. Just last week a giant 10 tonne meteor raced across the skies of Saskatchewan and Alberta. This event was witnessed by thousands of people and a few dozen Prairie Dogs.

Is this a coincidence...or is this only the beginning.


Here is actual dashcam footage from a Police cruiser of the recent meteor.